The Lighter Side of Life with Kate Mason: Why fainting in front of your dog is barking mad

Loyal, affectionate and always pleased to see you – it’s easy to see why dogs have earned the man’s best friend title. But it seems dog owners are not content with giving their furry friend the benefit of the doubt these days and instead have found a bizarre new way to test their loyalty.

I’ve often wondered how my dog Bertie would react in an emergency situation.

I like to think he would adopt a Lassie style persona barking and nodding in such a way to alert passers by to the fact I had fallen down a disused mine shaft or suffered a similar fate.

But rather than daydream about such a scenario more sceptical owners are putting their pooches to the test by pretending to faint in front of them to see how they react.

The bizarre trend that started in Japan has gone viral with hoards of dog owners following suit around the world.

The owners have been sharing videos of the reaction online but many have been left disappointed by the dogs response or lack of response.

Instead of leaping to their aid the vast majority of the pups seemed distinctly uninterested in the stunt, walking away probably in embarrassment rather than showing off life saving skills.

What the hell do these people expect, that their dog is going to change into scrubs and start performing CPR?

It’s far more likely that your pet pooch will simply try and lick you to death rather than give you the kiss of life.

I know dogs are intelligent but come on this is just stupid.

Many owners teach their dogs to play dead but this morbid trend is just harsh.

If your dog does believe your theatrical display it’s going to cause them unnecessary distress and upset if they don’t they just think you’re a weirdo who throws themselves on the floor.

It’s like the boy who cried wolf - fake it one too many times and your lovable mongrel may not spring to your defence when you really need him.

According to animal behaviour experts dogs can smell and connect with a person when they’re in dire need so if they sense you’re not in real distress it’s likely they’ll just walk away.

So really you’re just an idiot throwing yourself on the floor. We often hear about dogs outsmarting their owners and it in this scenario the dogs have certainly come out on top.